The ambitious Yellampalli project stands on the Godavari at Yellampalli village in Ramagundam mandal of Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. Also called the Sripada Sagar project, the Yellampalli project is constructed at a height of 148 metres to store 20 tmcft of water. The project was designed by the State Government at a height of 143.5 metres and store only 9 tmcft of water, however this plan did not work out because it was causing several conflicts among the inhabitants of the region.
The Government issued notification-asking designs from consultants for preparation of the project report to get all clearances from the Central Water Commission and other departments and construction of project at a height of 143.5 metres. Soon after the Chief Minister, Y.S Rajashekhar Reddy assured of measures for constructing the project at a height of 148 metres at the stone-laying function for the Yellampalli project.
According to official sources, at Yellampalli barrage site, the dependable yield available is about 65 tmcft of water of which 60 tmcft can be utilized. Among the total amount of water shared, 7 TMCFT is used for NTPC, Ramagundam, and 53 tmcft for drinking and irrigation requirements of the region. The Government has given administrative sanction for the first phase of the Yellampalli project for almost Rs. 900 crores at a height of 143.5 meters to store 9 TMCS of water. However, there is every possibility of receiving silt and thus reducing the live capacity up to 4 TMCFT or even less. Even this 4 TMCFT was not really sufficient for 10 days.
The proposal to incorporate the Pranahita river water with Godavari river water at Yellampalli project to irrigate about 20 lakh acres of highland regions of Telangana districts by utilizing about 140 TMCFT of water was accepted by all the parties. This scheme was thought to be the most economical and cost effective one when compared to Devadula lift irrigation scheme.
The final construction of Yellampalli project was done at 143.5 metres and thus there were no incidents of submergence. For the height of 148 metres barrage, the spillway vents are 79 in numbers thus saving a huge amount of civil works.
